Scar Stuff

The generosity of bloggers never fails to amaze me. We all wanted to pour out our thoughts to each other about our own array of rabid interests — we only needed a cheap, easy way to get the word out! Scar Stuff is a great blog for finding old monsteriffic items once advertized in comics during the Seventies (perhaps late Sixties). One of those items holds a special place of honor in my own imagination. It seems to occupy a special glassed-in case surrounded by fancy museum roping, a single track light shining down upon it. And that something is:

The Blood Banshee Record

aka The Haunting, aka Gayle House

An incredibly creaky door takes an incredibly long time to open. Shuffling feet that suggest long toed clown shoes or something. Then a cold, unflinching voice proclaims, “I have come from the world of the unliving to warn you: this PLACE is HAUNTED by a BLOOD BANSHEE! And if you do not leave at once, each of you will die… ONE…. by… ONE…” Then a strange howl. Not a wolf. More gutteral and low. But long and sustained, as though it doesn’t care who it might be warning — it’ll get you anyhow. The voice again, barks out, “IT IS TOO LATE! THE BANSHEE IS ALREADY HERE! YOU ARE DOOMED! I must go now… I must go… I must go…”

What follows sounds like the Little Rascals being eaten alive by a werewolf. “It’s not gonna get me! I’m gettin’ outta here!” Followed by “No! No! Let go of my arm! Please! Please!” A horrible struggle. Breaking glass. Shattered furniture. Then a pause. And then a slow, deliberate slurping sound.

Yikes!

Many people have tales of disappointment regarding the sorts of toys one could mail order from comic book ads. I had no such complaints about this record. It went way, way beyond all expectations. I listened to it probably once a week for quite a while. And now, you can hear it, too! The fine folks over at the Scar Stuff blog have provided a recording of this piece of prime Halloween real estate. I’ve got a copy in my Dropbox public folder and here is the link.

Thank you, Scar Stuff!

(Don’t forget to visit the mothership site www.ChristianHalloweenFan.com. Also, my book, The Magic Eightball Test: A Christian Defense of Halloween and All Things Spooky is out there at various online bookstores, including Amazon. Personally, I would by direct from the publisher, Lulu.com.)